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The professional debut of Peking Olympic champion Rachim Chakhkiev ended in success on Saturday night in Rostock when the Russian cruiserweight scored an impressive second round KO over Tayar Mehmed. A hard left hook ended the night for the overtaxed Mehmed. Chakhkiev was very happy about his debut as a pro. “This was all very thrilling for me,” he said. “It’s a big difference from the amateurs. Everything is a few dimensions larger. It especially hit me when I made my first walk into the atmosphere of the arena. This makes me hunger for more.“ (more…)

Prince Badi Ajamu (27-3-1, 15 KOs), of Camden, NJ will defend his NBA light heavyweight title when he take on Otis “Triple OG” Griffin (20-6-2, 8 KOs), of Sacramento, CA in a twelve round bout on Friday, November 20 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Ajamu, or “The Boxing Prince”, won the title in his last bout against DeAndrey Abron last July, also in Atlantic City. The card, promoted by Dee Lee Promotions, promises to be a light heavyweight bonanza, as Patrick Perez (25-7, 14 KOs) and Chuck “The Professor” Mussachio (13-1-2, 5 KOs) are also penciled in to appear in separate bouts. (more…)

It was one of those nights when nobody seemed ready to leave. 15, 20 even 30 minutes after WBO junior featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez beat Rogers Mtagwa by unanimous decision in the theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday night, there was still a significant contingent of fans and media on hand, almost standing in disbelief at what they had just witnessed. For 12 brutal and sensational rounds, Lopez and Mtagwa traded wild shots in what has to be considered one of the best fights of 2009, if not the best. (more…)

On Saturday night, Walter Johnson Promotions and Worldboxe hosted a fight card at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Event Center in Greensboro, NC. The best known fighter on the card, light heavywight Elivir Muriqi (37-5, 23 KOs) was impressive with his workman like effort in his bout scoring a third round TKO over veteran Tiwon Taylor (27-16, 20 KOs). For his efforts Elvir picked up the Universal Boxing Council (UNBC) America’s belt. In the main event, crusierweights Paul Jennette (12-2, 9 KOs) and Zach Mwekassa fought a slugfest that will not soon be forgotten by any in attendance. (more…)

Former world champion Jorge Rodrigo “La Hiena” Barrios (48-4-1, 34 KOs) will look to extend his unbeaten streak within his native Argentina to 31 when he takes on Mexico City banger Michael Lozada (32-5-1, 25 KOs) for the WBO Intercontinental lightweight title on November 21 at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the co-featured bout, unbeaten junior welterweight knockout artist Lucas Matthysse (24-0, 22 KOs) will take on an opponent to be determined in a WBO Latino title bout. HBO Plus will televise in Latin America.

WBA #1 ranked welterweight Joshua Clottey of Accri, Ghana will take on former world champion Carlos Quintana of Moca, Puerto Rico on the Pavlik vs. Williams world title card Dec. 5 at the historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. Clottey and Quintana will box 10 rounds. The fight will be televised by HBO before world middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and challenger Paul Williams get into the ring. Clottey has a record of 35-3, 21 KOs. Quintana’s record is 26-2, 20 KOs. Bob Arum made the announcement today. Clottey is promoted by Top Rank. Quintana is handled by DiBella Entertainment. The Dec. 5 title card is hosted by Caesars Atlantic City. “This is the most important fight in the careers of Clottey and Quintana. Both need to win to get to the next level — a championship fight,” said Brad Goodman, Top Rank matchmaker. “It’s a tough fight against a tough fighter in Quintana,” added Vinny Scolpino, manager of Clottey. “Joshua has to work hard and do his business in the ring on December 5.”

Middleweight KO Artist Joel Julio (34-3, 31 KOs) is scheduled to face spoiler Clarence “Sonny Bono” Taylor (14-22-4, 7 KOs) on Friday night at Miccosukee Resort & Gaming in Miami, Florida. Julio is looking to get back into the win column after a decision loss to WBO jr middleweight world champion Sergiy Dzinziruk and a shootout with James Kirkland.

After his workout today in Nottingham, England, unbeaten super middleweight Andre Dirrell spoke about Saturday’s showdown against WBC champion Carl Froch. “I want that belt, that’s my sole mission and I plan on taking it back to America,” he stated. “I can’t wait to get in that ring and shine and show the world what I can do.” (more…)

We witnessed a triple header with the OPBF and national belts on the line today (Monday; our national holiday named Athletic Day) in Tokyo, Japan. OPBF super-middle champ Seizo Kiyota (18-2-1, 16 KOs), 168, was awarded a TKO victory as he landed a very strong right cross to Indonesian challenger Yanto Siamora (13-4-4, 3 KOs), 168, to halt him at 2:52 of the third round in a scheduled twelve. Australian referee Frank Hadley didn’t bother to intervene, as he saw the much shorter Indonesian unfit to go on because of his absorption of punishment. Unbeaten prospect from Osaka, JBC#6 Ryo Miyazaki (10-0-2, 5 KOs), 108, upset WBA#9/WBC#9 ex-world challenger and national champ Munetsugu Kayo (17-3-3, 9 KOs), 107.5, by a unanimous technical decision (99-94, 98-94, 97-94) at 1:13 of the tenth and final stanza to capture the Japanese 108-pound belt in a surprising ten. Miyazaki’s direct big rights very frequently caught the southpaw champ to effectively hurt and bloody him, and a head-collision in the last session made the ref Uratani to terminate the affair and take a technical verdict. Game and gutsy Asami Shikasho (3-1, 1 KO), 112, acquired the vacant female OPBF flyweight belt by lopsidedly batter Thailander OA Kokietgym (6-4, 1 KO), 111, to stop her at 0:46 of the eighth round in a scheduled ten-round elimination bout. Promoter: Flash Akabane Promotions.

A sorrowful tragedy happened as Thai top bantam contender Sakai Jockygym (11-6, 5 KOs), 121.5, passed away at hospital almost just after he was stopped by JBC#8 bantam Kazuyoshi Niki (25-3-1, 13 KOs), 122, at 1:02 of the tenth and final session on Monday in Munakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. We sincerely mourn his passing. The ring victim Sakai was the Thailander who recently shattered a daydream of former three-time WBC bantam champ, ex-Japanese superstar Joichiro Tatsuyoshi’s severely criticized comeback by badly and miserably annihilating him into a TKO defeat in Bangkok, Thailand, this March.

Sakai tonight suffered a knockdown as he touched the canvas with Niki’s right counter in the opening session. The Thailander gamely fought back hard, while Niki aimed exclusively at the midsection to have him fading in later rounds. The ref declared a halt when Niki had him off balanced with a solid right without the Thailander hitting the deck midway in the final session. (more…)

WBC super middleweight champ Carl Froch says he’s happy to let Andre Dirrell’s mouth make all the running ahead of their Super Six World Boxing Classic showdown at the Trent FM Arena, Nottingham on SHOWTIME Saturday night. Froch though believes that the talk emanating from the challenger masks an underlying insecurity. “I think it’s a case of his mouth writing checks that his butt can‘t cash,” said Froch. “All this trash talk from him this close to the fight only confirms the first impressions I had of him when we all met up in New York to launch the Super Six. I think all the big talk is just to mask his own insecurities that maybe he’s not ready for this level. It sounds like he’d sooner take me on at baseball then step in to a ring with me. I think it’s dawned on him that now he has to step into the ring with the world’s best fighters and maybe he’s starting to doubt his own ability. If that’s the case then the last place he needs to be next Saturday night is in a boxing ring at the Trent FM Arena, in front of 10,000 Cobra fans and with me standing in the opposite corner. It’s going to be a very, very lonely place for him and all the talk in the world will count for nothing when that first bell rings.”

Legendary trainer Freddie Roach wants one specific but stricter rule implemented in the 12-round face-off between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. Interviewed by Fightnews at the upscale Manor Hotel, Roach said he will insist during the rules meeting that an automatic disqualification be imposed for the first intentional low blow thrown during the match. “Cotto tends to get dirty when the going gets tough in most of his fights and I don’t want that to happen. I will make sure the referee will be very strict about it,” said Roach. (more…)

One of the best ways to activate boxing is to force the champion to strictly abide by the rules and regulations on his mandatory defense against the top contender. In this regard, the Japan Professional Boxing Association (JPBA), the union of licensed managers, makes it a rule to promote the national tournaments of ranked boxers to decide the official challenger who is to have a promised shot at the Japanese belt in the annual Carnival of Champions in the beginning of the year.

The finals of the tournaments took place at the Korakuen Hall on Sunday in Tokyo, Japan, to see the following mandatory challengers eliminated:

WBA Super-Middleweight Champion Mikkel Kessler toured Denmark last week to promote his Super Six World Boxing Classic debut on November 21. With SHOWTIME airing the tournament in the US, Viasat, Yousee and TDC TV will broadcast the Kessler fights in Scandinavia. During the two-day press tour, the Viking Warrior stopped in Odense, Rudkøbing, Kolding, Skanderborg, Hjørring, Aalborg and Copenhagen to catch up with thousands of fans. Apart from signing countless of autographs, he answered plenty of questions about the tournament, his opponents, his training and his preparation. He will be in Berlin for the start of the Super Six tournament this Saturday when Arthur Abraham takes on Jermain Taylor in front of a packed o2 World in Berlin. (more…)

Review by David Finger
With the “Super Six World Boxing Classic” set to debut this Saturday on Showtime, boxing fans certainly have a good reason to tune into Showtime’s reality series “Fight Camp 360°: Inside The Super Six World Boxing Classic.” But for those fans who expect a staged documentary in the mold of HBO’s 24/7, you will undoubtedly be pleasantly surprised at the reality of the “Fight Camp 360°” series . . . Click here for more

Carl Froch, Jermain Taylor, Andre Ward, Mikkel Kessler, Andre Dirrell and Arthur Abraham: The top six super middleweights in the world as depicted by photographer Howard Schatz: Click here for full gallery

Undefeated #1 contender Andre Dirrell is ready to take on WBC super middleweight champion Carl “The Cobra” Froch on Saturday live on SHOWTIME® from the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham, England, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). The battle of unbeatens — the second half of a doubleheader on SHOWTIME® — will be the first fight for Froch and Dirrell in the Super Six World Boxing Classic.

In a statement released by his publicist, Dirrell is quoted as saying “Froch is going to discover on October 17 that his new world really is flat … flat on his back. I’m going to expose him like a ‘Page 3′ pinup in The Sun. I’ve had my best training camp ever and I’m ready to shiver Froch’s timbers from stem to stern. This is step one in showing that I am the heir apparent to the throne Joe Calzaghe vacated as the king of the super middleweight division, something Froch has never been able to achieve. I’m going to slam Froch from both sides of the plate. I’m going to go Mickey Mantle on him! Remember this…Carl Froch can kiss my Yankee Doodle!” (more…)

On June 27th 1988, Kevin Rooney was in the corner of undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, “Iron” Mike Tyson. It was Tyson’s 35th fight as a professional, and all of them had Rooney in his corner.

Cus D’Amato had guided Tyson through the amateur ranks and his first 11 fights as a professional before dying from a rare case of pneumonia. Even though Cus was Tyson’s mentor, it was always Rooney who was seen working Tyson’s corner. Even for “the baddest man on the planet,” during his first few fights, when Cus was still alive, Rooney would coach Tyson in his corner, then hurry back into the dressing room to get ready to compete as one of the boxers in the main event of that evening’s show . . . Click here for more

Female world champions Ina Menzer and Susi Kentikian successfully retained their world titles on Saturday night in Rostock, Germany, overcoming strong challenges from Esther Schouten and Julia Sahin. Here;s what they had to say after the fight. (more…)

Hector ‘Machito’ Camacho, Jr. and Luis ‘Yory Boy’ Campas will face off in what fight fans expect to be a challenging and exciting 12 round championship fight which promises to provide great boxing entertainment and a little drama as well. The 30 year old Camacho, Jr., son of former 4-time world champion, Hector “Macho Man” Camacho, will be looking to jump back into the world title picture when he defends his WBC Caribbean Light Middleweight title against Campas, a 2-time world champion from Mexico. The Camacho Jr. vs Campas championship fight is scheduled for 10 rounds. . . . Click here for more

The heavyweight part of the upcoming show, scheduled in Ekaterinburg on Oct. 24 under German Titov Promotions, has been finalized. WBA #10 heavyweight Denis Bakhtov (30-5, 19 KOs) faces Uzbek journeyman Sherzod Mamajanov (6-10, 2 KOs) in a tune-up six-rounder. 2008 Beijing super heavyweight bronze medalist Vyacheslav Glazkov (1-0) will make his first step up by taking on former two-time national and GBU heavyweight champion Alexey Varakin (28-16-3, 16 KOs), who is coming off two and a half years of hiatus. The main event will see Dmitry Ganiev (10-0-1, 4 KOs), defending his PABA and WBO Asia Pacific lightweight titles, against Thai Fahsan 3K Battery (59-9-2, 35 KOs).

On Friday the popular series of Boxeo TELEMUNDO, Miccosukee Resort and Gaming, Everlast Worldwide and All Star Boxing, Inc. will be in full support of the World Campaign of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. On this special occasion, Everlast has prepared a pink canvas and also all of the fighters will be wearing pink gloves. Also the promoters have encourage the fans to come dressed in pink. In the main event former WBA FEDECENTRO and national champion Wilfredo “Papin” Negron faces WBC Latin jr. welter champion Antonio Pitalua in a bout scheduled for twelve rounds for the WBO Latin welterweight title. (more…)

In a candidate for fight of the year, unheralded challenger Rogers “Tiger” Mtagwa (26-13-2, 18 KOs) made the most of his first world title shot as he brought Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez to the brink of losing his title while almost earning the upset of the year in a jr. featherweight war for Lopez’s WBO title at a packed WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden. (More)

IBF #10, WBO #11 featherweight Billy Dib (23-1-1, 12 KOs) stopped Filipino Flash Villacurra (22-25-2, 11 KOs) at the conclusion of round four at the Croation Club, Sydney, NSW, Australia on Sunday. Dib was in control of the contest from round one connecting with fast combinations. In round three Villacurra was in trouble after Dib delivered a non-stop barrage of punches but he survived to hear the bell. Round four had Dib stepping up a gear and having his opponent hurt again with both boxers suffering cuts in this round. Referee Charlie Lucas had the Doctor inspect Villacurra’s cuts and it was decided they were too severe to continue. (more…)

Famous American boxing broadcaster, Colonel Bob Sheridan, was a smash hit as the special guest at the Australian Boxing Hall of Fame dinner at the Function Centre Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on Saturday. President of the Hall of Fame, Brett McCormick stated: “The Colonel was fantastic. He helped the Hall of Fame in the days before the dinner by appearing on the Melbourne radio stations and giving interviews as well as giving us positive publicity.” For more details and photos click here…

Once again, rising bantamweight hope Alexey Makhnenko (6-0, 5 KOs) failed to give the roaring crowd enough time to enjoy his boxing skills, overshadowing them with his freakish knockout power. A couple of hours ago, Makhenko entered the ring in front of the local student community at Moscow State Mining University and left it just 155 seconds after with his hand raised up in the air following a brutal demolition of Ukrainian no-hoper Vitaly Golovonkov (0-2). Makhnenko, who has recently graduated from the university, known for its vivid boxing traditions, slowly got himself into fight and even ate some shots from his opponent. Then he suddenly threw a left-handed bomb that landed flush on Vitaly’s chin putting him down cold. Referee Alexander Kalinkin started the count but waved Golovonkov off right after, sensing he is in no shape not even to say a word. That was a hard knockout on Maknenko’s behalf that drove the local crowd crazy for several minutes. For more details and photos click here…

A nasty cut over his eye was not about to deter Israel Vazquez from coming out victorious on Saturday night. Then again, what else is new in a career that has seen him fight wars with cuts above his eyes?

In a fight that redefined the concept of “all action,” Ben “Smooth” Henderson defeated Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone via unanimous after five furious rounds to become the WEC interim lightweight champion.

Originally slated to meet in Youngstown, Ohio, the hometown of world middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, in September, Donald Cerrone and Ben Henderson finally showed down in San Antonio, Texas in the main event of Saturday night’s World Extreme Cagefighting card . . . Click here for more

All three judges last night in New York City gave Juan Manuel Lopez the first six rounds with each scoring 10-8 for “Juanma” in round five, so entering round seven Lopez was ahead 60-53 across the board. Judge Kevin Morgan (114-113) gave Mtagwa all six remaining rounds, but surprisingly did not score the one-sided 12th round 10-8. Judge Carlos Ortiz (116-111) gave Mtagwa four of the last six, again not scoring the 12th round 10-8. Judge Steve Weisfeld (115-111) also gave Mtagwa four of the last six, but did score the 12th round 10-8. Mtagwa won the last three rounds on all cards. Click here to see the official NYSAC master scorecard.

WBO junior featherweight champion Juan Manuel ‘Juanma’ Lopez (27-0, 24 KOs) successfully retained his title Saturday night against Rogers Mtagwa (26-13-2, 18 KOs). The focus now shifts to what’s next for Lopez. Lopez commented on his tough defense against Mtagwa and his future. Bob Arum/Top Rank, Lopez’ co-promoter with PR Best Boxing (Ivan & Peter Rivera) mentioned after the fight that Lopez would return to action January 23rd in Puerto Rico in a bout telvised on HBO. Two names mentioned as possibles for Lopez to fight were current WBC featherweight champ Elio Rojas and WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano. As for the Mtagwa fight, Juanma stated, “This was the most difficult and toughest fight of my career. Mtgawa just kept coming and throwing punches. Fighters like Mtgawa some times are the hardest fights because they have nothing to lose and they really bring it to you. I hope to fight the big names like Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez in the future.”

Salisbury, Maryland’s favorite son, middleweight prospect Fernando Guerrero, grabbed the interim NABO middleweight belt with an entertaining 10-round majority decision over Ghanaian-born Ossie Duran, now fighting out of Paterson, New Jersey, on a cool night at Arthur Purdue Stadium, the ballpark of the Baltimore Orioles’ Class A minor-league team, the Delmarva Shorebirds. For more details and photos click here…

Featherweight Dat Nguyen, 17-1 (6 KOs), scored a unanimous eight-round decision over Colombian veteran Andres Ledesma, 15-15 (10 KOs), at the Arena Theater in Houston. Nguyen started off aggressively and dropped Ledesma against the ropes with a crisp overhand right-left hook combination in the second round. Emboldened by the knockdown and eager to end the fight early, Nguyen became overanxious and loaded up on his punches for the remainder of the bout instead of utilizing the boxing skills that made him a top amateur. Ledesma was able to avoid most of Nguyen’s telegraphed shots, get in some of his own and last the distance. The bout was staged by TKO Boxing Promotions. (more…)